Translation of Final Fantasy IV Documents on Settings Book/Settei Shiryou Hen/Compendium/What Have You

Translation of the Final Fantasy IV Documents on Settings Book/Settei Shiryou Hen/Compendium/Whatever You Want to Call It

Ignorant Dotard Translation Alert!: This document is a very rough draft of a translation that was never properly finished due to the intrusion of real-life concerns. I now once again have my physical copy of the settei book and have at last begun checking, correcting, and rewriting the document. As of now (9/7/08), from the beginning up to Edward's biography has been revised.

I realize it's ill-advised to badmouth any part of one's work before its presentation, but to be honest: the Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Hen is, alas, not nearly as thorough as such books are for other games - this particular publication, though it does yield a bit of good historical info, often amounts to little more than a glorified instruction manual. Sadly, Square doesn't seem to be as forthcoming with interesting background info - be it background on the game's production or background on the game's world and characters themselves - as, say, are the creators of the Phantasy Star and Lunar series, who include staff interviews, character backstories, alternate scrapped-in-production storylines, preliminary chara, monster, and item sketches, elaborate showpiece illustrations, and other goodies in their game fan books. (Hmmm. Perhaps I should check out the big Final Fantasy Collection books.)

Anyhow, important notes before you get started:

Standard Japanese-translation disclaimer: this book was originally written in, of course, Japanese, a language that has a markedly different syntax than English, puts a name to concepts left unverbalized on this side of the Pacific, has a great many words which can translate into several different English meanings - well, if you're interested enough in a Japanese publication on FF4 to be reading this, I probably don't need to acquaint you with the broad outlines of the difficulties of translating Japanese into English. While not the license to just throw in the towel and arbitrarily substitute difficult passages with bodily-function jokes as some take it, it does mean that occasionally, particularly in working with narrative passages as opposed to dialogue, a translator is forced to offer a slightly awkward-sounding translation in favor of greater accuracy. In short, please forgive a bit of the former in pursuit of the latter goal, which I believe (I hope) we agree should be the higher priority in the case of what is basically a sort of technical manual. (12/15/05 note: That said, this translation is still too stilted to be fluent; as detailed above, it will be rewritten, but not immediately.)
Any text in brackets is my own notation or explanation.
While our beloved spoony bard's name is spelled as "Gilbart" in large roman letters in the book itself, I've used the romanization "Gilbert" instead. The name in katakana is "girubaato", which, while it could yield "Gilbart", is indeed how the proper name "Gilbert" is translated into Japanese. As "Gilbart" is a very close approximation of an actual Western name in a game where the characters are by and large given Western names, and as the same book spells Cecil's second character class as "Paradin", I think the canonity of the authors' English spelling can be taken as somewhat dubious when legitimate cause for doubt arises.
(That said, T. J. Fuller writes in to suggest that "Gilbart" might be a reference to famed British banker James William Gilbart, who wrote many influential books on banking and did much to shape the joint-stock class of bank in the first half of the 1800's. I'm keeping the translation as "Gilbert", but as our bard comes from a family of bankers, this is an intriguing theory.)
The weapons mentioned by name in each playable-character's character-class section and the items described in the Items section all have accompanying illustrations (not by Amano). The depictions mostly aren't that horribly exciting or enlightening, but they are available at the FF Compendium. They're in black-and-white, though, and kinda fuzzy. You might want to check around the web to see if the scan situation has changed by the time you read this - I might have posted some on the Pic Page section of my site, or Sygnus.org might have some info. It indeed has some of the book's scans interspersed through its site design, and, as probably the biggest FF4 site out there, if any site out there eventually does get up all this art, Sygnus.org would have a link to it.
I probably shouldn't even delve into the world of FF4j without mentioning Ian Kelley's venerable FF2/FF4j Easytype Changes FAQ, available at his homepage.
Should you buy this book? Ehhh. Its biggest merit by far is its textual information, which you have right here (in what (presumably) is your native tongue, no less), and, like I've said, the illustrations aren't all that enticing. Copies of the book are as of this writing (January 2002) popping up on eBay fairly often, however, so if you're a fan and just want to pick this up on a cheap impulse purchase, go ahead. (By the way, this particular book has Cain on the cover - there are four volumes in this little series, the other three concerning just game strategy, each depicting a different chara on the front.) If you'd like to special-order it, the ISBN is 4-87188-128-8, the publisher is NTT Shuppan, the official title is Fainaru Fantajii IV Settei Shiryou Hen (not Settei Shiryou Shuu, as I erroneously reported before - sorry; that's the term for the Phantsy Star Compendium uses), and the original price was 550 yen (you'll most probably be charged more than that, but some special-order houses require the original price in order to expedite the search).

Translation by RACapowski@worldnet.att.net; please contact me if you have any questions or notice any errors. Please do not repost this document without permission, which is not that tough to get anyway.

pgs. 2-3

PROLOGUE

Long, long ago...
a great light appeared in the sky above.
It bathed the earth below in its warm luminance
and then disappeared for parts unknown.
Afterward, four small lights remained
and a new planet soon was born in the heavens.
An evil will too reached out for Earth,
but it remained sealed away by a power stronger still.

Age	Event
~800 Years Ago	A settlement is spontaneously generated in the abundant landscape. Development is quick, and the town in no time comes to function as a city-state.
	The beginnings of a rudimentary parliamentary government - that is to say, something on the level of a meeting between the area's influential families.
~500 Years Ago	Internal strife develops in the parliament, even progressing to a skirmish that leads to bloodshed. This riot is afterwards called "The Blood-Stained Three Days". The bloodline of the current King Baron quells the strife and, in the name of reinforcing parliamentary reform, establishes a constitution spanning fifteen articles. It is from this point that the history of the nation of Baron begins. At the same time, armed forces are established, deemed necessary for national defense and vigilance.
~450 Years Ago	King Baron I is born. At the same time, the watch committee is newly instituted as the Personal Guard Corps.
~300 Years Ago	The arrival of a merchant ship from Mysidia. As a result, Baron's reputation as a military nation spreads throughout the world.
	The Dragon Knight Corps is formed. Cain's ancestors are greatly involved [in this event].
~150 Years Ago	Security treaty with Mysidia. An instantaneous, extra-dimensional travel route between the two countries is completed through Mysidia's efforts. It afterwards comes to be called the Devil Road.

Age	Event
~500 Years Ago	A troupe of traveling traders, Déraciné, wanders across an oasis. They establish a settlement and make it their permanent base. [Note: "déraciné" is a word of French origin literally translated as "rootless". It's apparently been adopted by the Japanese as well, and means "nomadic" or "wandering".]
	Sandworms directly attack the oasis. It suffers a devastating blow.
	The Gilbert family visits the oasis to do some trading. The Sandworms are driven away. It is "The Night of Word Essences". [Another Note: "word essences" is in Japanese "kotodama" (composed of the characters for "say"/"utterance" and "spirit"). The exact same term is used for the unique spells featured in Square's later game, Rudra's Secret Treasure, in which words themselves act as magics; new spells are acquired not through gaining levels, but by assembling word-magics syllable-by-syllable from the Japanese alphabet and following clues interspersed throughout the game in order to find the most effective combinations of syllables. (Every and any word you can type in Japanese produces a different magical effect. It's all very neat.) The English term "word essences" is taken directly from the Rudra portion of Square Japan's old English-language page. Anyhow, the basic point - in both Rudra and FF4, the term "word essences" refers to words, sung or chanted, which hold inherent magic power and produce magical effects.]
	The Gilbert family prospers as wealthy merchants.
	The future first king of Damcyan, Duster, discovers a jewel, "The Light of the Desert". His influence spreads. [I'm sorry. Duster ("dasutaa" in katakana) is his name. I didn't make this up, and I couldn't think of any other romanization.]
~350 Years Ago	A constitution for Damcyan is enacted, and Damcyan is formally established as a nation.
	A system of currency is introduced. Its basic unit, the gil, takes its name from the royal family.
	A high-ranking priest from Fabul is invited as the first state guest. Ties of friendship [between the two countries] deeper.
~200 Years Ago	Official diplomatic relations are established with Baron.

Age	Event
~300 Years Ago	On the eastern shoreline near the base of Mt. Hobs, long held as a sacred mountain by the priesthood, a settlement of monks is established.
	The monk Fabul climbs Mt. Hobs. He spends his first winter there.
	Having received a spiritual enlightenment, Fabul descends the mountain and founds a temple. A great number of priests take this opportunity and start to gather around Fabul.
~100 Years Ago	The Dark Knight Renault searches for an inn in Fabul. There, through Bishop Fabul's teachings, he renounces his Dark Sword and enters the priesthood. Taking this as a sign, many priests head for the temple.
	Archbishop Fabul passes away. Lamenting his death, his disciples make his son, the successor to his will, king, and finally establish Fabul as a nation.
	A monk army corps is established, training being its main objective. Also, at the same time, the issue of a national foreign policy begins to be tackled.
	Commercial trade with Damcyan via Mount Hobs begins in earnest.

Age	Event
~400 Years Ago	In the lands of Troia, the clerics who have long provided a link between the gods and the people come to live among its people and around the outskirts of its nature.
~300 Years Ago	Eight girls are born, the clerics' future successors. That year, it finally becomes so that absolutely no male children are born in Troia. The clerics, keeping a close watch on world affairs, formally establish Troia as a nation and begin militarization in order to protect the surrounding populace. An all-female personal guard unit is established.
	The last male born in Troia passes away. Troia becomes a completely female country.
	The eight sisters ascend to the position of clerics.
~100 Years Ago	A messenger from Baron comes to Troia; international relations are established.
	A Troian traveler discovers a nest of chocobos.
	Success with chocobo breeding. Chocobos are developed as a new mode of transportation. Through this, there is a rapid increase in visitors to Troia, which instantly transforms into a tourist destination.

Age	Event
~500 Years Ago	A fishing boat drifts ashore on account of a storm. The captain forms a fishing village with himself as its chief.
	Tsunamis inflict damage for two years running. Spiritual training begins, borne out of necessity for surviving cruel nature.
	At the end of his training, the captain's descendant [or offspring - the word used could be translated as either], Absalom, learns a magic, "Blizzard", that can freeze high waves. The nation enters into the era when it will begin to develop itself into a country of wizards.
	The perfection of "Fire". The perfection of "Thunder" follows. What are commonly called the three great types of black magic are established. At this time, there come to be growing signs of training for the sake of magical development.
~200 Years Ago	Through a miscast "Thundara" by Eikob (called "The Warlock Fool"), a third of the town is vaporized. [Note: the Warlock Fool's name is "eikobu" is raw katakana; I can't find a correlating "actual" name, so I'm just taking a personal stab at it. It could be "Eicob", "Akob", etc.] The Sage Minh seals away all magic and at the same time places the results in the entrance of the Mountain of Trial.
~150 Years Ago	Upon the attack of a giant tsunami, the voice of Minh suddenly rings out, and the tsunami is quelled. Afterwards, many people receive revelations from Minh's voice in dreams or in times of crisis.
	Revival of magic. Magic research starts over from square one.

Age	Event
~300 Years Ago	A scattered village is settled in the mountains as a hunting ground. Local minor territory skirmishes occur and resurge within the area.
	The influence of several warrior-faction villages increases. The island is split into three parts. [Oh, goodie - they can make a Geraldine's Ambition game to go along with Waizz Landeel's.] Battles for supremacy flare up.
	The clan ruling the northern part of the island and the faction ruling the southwestern region unite. They begin to pressure the tribe of the southeastern region, led by the house of Geraldine.
	The then-head of the house of Geraldine disappears into the mountain range. About one month later, the chieftain suddenly reappears, bringing ninjutsu with him. The influence of the chief's ninjutsu is fearsome, and his military might is at once reclaimed.
~100 Years Ago	Peace is established between both powers through the "Abel Peace Treaty". The country of Eblana is established two years afterward. The house of Geraldine is installed in power. Out of fear of the power of ninjutsu leaking out to other countries, Geraldine makes ninjutsu a family secret.
	Eblana Castle is completed.
	Baronian airships fly in. This is Eblana's first contact with a foreign culture.

Translation of the Final Fantasy IV Documents on Settings Book/Settei Shiryou Hen/Compendium/Whatever You Want to Call It

PROLOGUE

CONTENTS